first some breaking news. music fans are stunned this morning over the death of country star mindy mccready. mccready was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. she stayed in the public eye for her relationships with actor dean cain and roger clemens. in 2011 mccready disappeared with her son in a custody battle. then her boyfriend died at her home, reportedly on that same porch where mccready's body was found. the immigration debate took a new turn over the weekend when an immigration proposal being drafted by the white house was leaked to reporters. the plan largely follows themes hinted at by the president, the

timing of its release raised new concerns from republicans about the directions of the discussions. according to this draft, undocumented workers could apply for lawful prospective immigrant visa. after eight years, people who learn english and pay a fine could apply for legal citizen status and then citizenship. it would require businesses to check the immigration status of potential workers. republican senator marco rubio says the white house legislation is "half baked and seriously flawed." he added this. if actually proposed, the president's bill would be dead on arrival in congress leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come. the president's new chief of staff is dennis mcdonna. he told david gregory on "meet

the press" that the white house would much prefer congress come up with a solution. >> we're doing exactly what we said we'd do. we'll be prepared in the event that the bipartisan talks going on on the hill, if those don't work out, we'll have an option. >> with those negotiations still unfolding on capitol hill, two men challenge iing president ob suggesting the legislation and the leak were for political purposes. >> by putting these details out without a guest worker program without addressing future flow, by giving advantage to those who cut in front of line before immigrants who came here legally, not dealing with border security adequately, that tells us he's looking for a partisan advantage and not a bipartisan solution. >> leaks don't happen in washington by accident. this raises the question that many of us continue to wonder about. does the president want a result

or does he want another chance to beat up republicans so he can get political advantage in the next election? >> of course that is senator mccain. congressman ryan weighed in on another looming deadline playing out on capitol hill. we're barely two weeks away from the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts. they are across the board. that's when they kick in, march 1st. the house budget chairman blamed democrats for the economic showdown. lindsey graham went back to the well of republican opposition to the white house in pitching his plan to deal with the sequester. >> it's the president who proposed the sequester. it's the president who designed the sequester. it's the house republicans who twice passed legislation replacing the sequester with smaller cuts in other areas of government. the president gave a speech showing he would like to replace t but he has not put details out there. that's why i conclude i believe it's going to take place. there's no leadership on the other side of the aisle and no

agreement. >> here's my belief. let's take obama care and put it on the table. you can make $86,000 a year in income and get a government subsidy under obama care. obama care is destroying health care in this country. people are leaving the private sector because companies can't afford to leave obama care. if you want to find ways to save $1.2 trillion over the next decade, look at obama care. don't destroy the military. chuck hagel is days away from a senate vote to consider his nomination as defense secretary. at the earliest that won't happen until lawmakers return to washington next week. they're taking a ten-day recess. sounds like a good gig. senator john mccain, one of hagel's most outspoken critics pushed back against suggestions that his opposition was designed to settle old scores. >> is that to say, senator, it's pay back time for chuck hagel? that's what this process has

amounted to? >> of course not. 99% of it is to do with the positions that senator hagel has taken. p the position hes he's taken on some issues are not only out of the mainstream but to the far left. when we return, i'm sure chuck hagel will have enough votes to be confirmed. other senators have reasonable questions, i mean reasonable. >> but you're not a yes vote for your old friend? >> no. i don't believe he is qualified. but i don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any further. >> safe to say hagel and mccain families won't be sharing a presidents' day picnic today. officials at the white house are raising concerns that the lag in seating the president's cabinet

picks could hurt the country. >> between john brennan and chuck hagel we want to make sure we have those guys sitting in the chairs working. i don't want there to have been something missed because of this hang up in washington. also in washington, tens of thousands of people rallied yesterday in opposition to the proposed keystone pipeline. the demonstrators called on the president to reject the plan. the $5.3 billion project could carry crude oil over 1,000 miles from canada to the gulf coast. with thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, the permitting decision rests in john kerry's state department that will address the proposal in the next several weeks. crowds flocked to st. peter's square this morning to be blessed by the pope in what

was his second to last sunday address. speaking in spanish to a crowd of about 50,000, the pontiff asked the faithful to pray for him as well as the next pope. with just days left until pope b benedict leaves, church law dictates that the conclave to elect the new pope be held no fewer than 15 days after the sitting pontiff's departure. here's the latest from overseas regarding oscar pistorius, he is the owe almoly runner. he is cancelling all future races as he is behind bars. pistorius maintains his innocence as new evidence is collected from the scene. >> reporter: for oscar pistorius, another day from jail brought visits from his sister, a local preacher. >> he was starting to cry, i

came to pray with him. >> reporter: also his agent. >> my visit was in a professional manner to discuss his career, and the plans we had made this year. also to visit him as a friend and give him moral support. >> reporter: the press here has been overflowing with every detail they can find. newspapers quote police sources saying they believe reeva steenkamp was first shot in the bedroom and then through the bathroom door, that he apparently broke through to try to help her. that a cricket bat is considered a key piece of evidence. there's an interview with someone identified as his best friend saying he got a frantic call from pistorius at 3:55 that morning. i said what are you talking about? he then repeated himself. there's been a terrible accident. i shot reeva. another publication referring a sworn police affidavit given by a woman who said she was also called by pistorius at 3:20 a.m.

the report claims she arrived to see pistorius carrying a gravely injured steenkamp down the stairs and they both tried to save her life. his family strongly denies the shooting was at all intentional. his father is quoted as saying he has zero doubt his son reacted on instinct believing steenkamp was an intruder. steenkamp says of pistorius that he must be going through things we don't know about. there's no hatred in our hearts. now with concerns over his emotional state, pistorius waits in a cell, accused of the most serious crime. >> pistorius is expected to be back in a south african courtroom tomorrow. as always, let us know why you're awake. it's not just presidents' day for good reason for you to get up at 5:30 a.m. shoot us an e-mail at

waytooearly@msnbc. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on "way too early," defense made a rare appearance at the end of last night's all-star game. kobe bryant reminding lebron he's still in the picture. those high lights coming up later in sports. if you missed it, a fake marco rubio making an appearance during "snl's" weekend update. we will play that clip and get a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. >> the fatal crash kale on the last lap of the race. less than a half mile from the finish line. earnhardt lost control after grazing another car and hit the wall head on going about 180 miles per hour. hi. hi.

i'm here to pick up some cacti. it should be under stephens. the verizon share everything plan for small business. get a shareable pool of data... got enough joshua trees? ... on up to 25 devices. so you can spend less time... yea, the golden barrels... managing wireless costs and technology and more time driving your business potential. looks like we're going to need to order more agaves... ah! oh! ow! ... and more bandages. that's powerful. shareable data plus unlimited talk and text. now save $50 on a droid razr maxx hd by motorola. has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does!

♪ wow. [ buzz ] delicious, right? yeah. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... ♪ well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? bee happy. bee healthy. with clusters of flakes and o's. oh, ho ho... it's the honey sweetness. i...i mean, you...love. oh, ho ho... it's the honey sweetness. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ]

and you'll find advanced safety technology like an available heads-up display on the 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. watch this -- alakazam! ♪ [ male announcer ] staples has always made getting office supplies easy. ♪ another laptop? don't ask. disappear! abracadabra! alakazam! [ male announcer ] and now we're making it easier to get everything for your business. and for my greatest trick! enough! [ male announcer ] because whatever you need, we'll have it or find it, and get it to you fast. staples. that was easy.

waking up "way too early" on a presidents' day holiday, the day we celebrate our friend millard philmore. a check of the weather from bill karins in new york. it's cold in the big apple. >> you guys see any snowflakes in d.c. on saturday? >> we saw a bit over the weekend. saturday night we did. this morning it was dry, at least where i lived. >> charlotte picked up almost two inches of snow. snow in myrtle beach, south carolina. it was cold on the east coast. this storm -- new england got a taste of it. this could have been just as bad as the storm we had last weekend. this was a huge winter storm. you can see it developing, then it slams up to the canadian maritimes. this was as strong as the one we saw last weekend. this was equivalent to, like, a

category 3 hurricane. it was a very low pressure. that's why it was so windy out over new england. it's still windy this morning. wind gusts in the 20 to 30-mile-per-hour range, not like the 50 we saw yesterday, but the windchills were brutal. a lot of us are off this morning. windchills in the negative numbers in most cases, down d.c. you are in the teens for the windchill. during the day the winds get lighter. the sun will be out. it should be nice. the warm up will be quick. already the next storm is du dumping some snow in north dakota. out ahead of that are warm winds. a look at chicago today, rain and 47. for the east coast, one more day. peter, tomorrow, even areas like d.c. could be back up to the low 50s. it was short-lived but painful with the winds this morning. >> not too far off until we start striking the white ball. sounds good. over to sports for the nba's

annual showcase that is the all-star game. the league's biggest stars take to the court in a battle between east and west no shortage of highlights. starting off with the east, lebron james out of the break. feeding it to dwayne wade who bounces it off the glass for the lebron jam. over six minutes left. kobe bryant to kevin durant, throws down the reverse dunk. west leads 20-14. second quarter now, chris paul finding fellow clipper blake griffin for lob city reunion. this is the fourth. griffin gives himself the assist off the glass. monster slam. lebron looking to take it coast to coast, but kobe is all over him. james leads back for the fadeaway, blocked by bryant. kobe getting the best of lek bron in the final seconds. shuts down any hopes for a comeback. hard to believe the defense would be what defined for this one. the east wins 143-138. players from western conference

took home $50,000 for their victory and the opponents got 25,000. chris paul, 20 points and 15 assists for the west, taking home your mvp honors. in her fourth year in nascar, danica patrick has made history again, this time by winning the daytona 500 pole yesterday becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any race in nascar's premiere circuit. patrick went out eighth in the qualifying session and had to wait about two hours as 37 fellow drivers tried to take her spot. only jeff gordon even came close to knocking off patrick. the two of them enjoying themselves on the side. president obama is on vacation for the long weekend in florida. on sunday quietly he hit the links with the one-time best golfer in the world, tiger woods. golf digest first reporting that the president spent some of saturday with woods' swing coach. on sunday with no press, the president played 18 holes with

woods and some others. after woods left, the president reportedly played another 9. woods did not take his foot off the gas for the leader of the free world. a tweet this from golf digest reporter, wrote we received word that tiger holed out greenside bunker number 1 for birdie. president obama and tiger first met in january of 2009 during the president's first inauguration. just months later tiger visited the oval office where they took this photo together. the president with his eyes closed. they couldn't have done better? finally the shot of the day from brandon university. not a bracket-busting team but check it out. friday night, the head coach didn't just make one undergrad's night but his entire semester. this is awesome. >> it's close! oh! he did it! >> look at the dance. he drilled the half-court shot.

that shot earned the student he was playing for free tuition for the entire term. you have to like the dance. i believe i can fly right there by coach chung. the contest ran all season long. not one branded bobcats player was able to sink the half court shot. the student chose chung to take his shot, who is also his professor over the rest of the team. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the white house immigration plan is leaked to reporters. and republicans on capitol hill are not pleased by what they're looking at. the "morning joe" crew will break down where those negotiations stand today. when we come back right here, we'll huddle around the water cooler where "saturday night live" tries to imagine how pope benedict's life will change when he steps down next week. we will show you the clip when "way too early" comes right back.

many cereals say they're good for your heart, but did you know there's a cereal that's recommended by doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient: one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. try adding fruit for more health benefits and more taste in your bowl. it's the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. try post shredded wheat. this has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. investors could lose tens of thousands of dollars on their 401(k) to hidden fees. is that what you're looking for, like a hidden fee in your giant mom bag? maybe i have them... oh that's right i don't because i rolled my account over to e-trade where... woah. okay... they don't have hidden fees... hey fern. the junk drawer? why would they... is that my gerbil? you said he moved to a tiny farm. that's it, i'm running away. no, no you can't come! [ male announcer ] e-trade. less for us. more for you.

you're watching "way too early." enough with that real news, we'll gather around the water cooler to watch some "saturday night live." we remember this moment from last week when senator marco rubio awkwardly reached for a sip of water during his rebuttal to the state of the union address. because most of his speech got

lost in the chatter, "saturday night live" gave rubio the chance to do it again. but the senator runs into some of the same problems. >> the state of the union address is always a reminder of how unique america -- for much of human history -- >> i am sorry, are you sure you don't want a little bit of water? >> i am fine. for much of human history people were trapped in -- >> i'm sorry we teased you about drinking water. it is so much worse when you don't have it. >> water! i need water! why did i have all of that cinnamon. >> why did you eat cinnamon? >> it's the cinnamon challenge! >> i need water. >> it is right there. >> where is the water? >> can you not see? it is never that far away. it is right here. it is back where you were. >> which way, seth? >> back where you were.

>> there it is. my parents immigrated here in pursuit -- and now i have to pee. >> okay. marco rubio, everybody. >> down. everything is that way. >> 2016 just three and a half years away. those passengers of the carnival cruise triumph are back home after a horrendous vacation stranded at sea last week. you heard about that. what would it have been like if they learned about the week's news while stuck on board? >> let's see what's in the news. the pope resigned. oh, lord. >> here is something fun. north korea successfully launched a nuclear -- nope, never mind. >> here we go. i got one. you guys remember oscar pistorius, the olympic sprinter

who ran on blades? >> amazing story. so uplifting -- >> absolutely. >> says here that -- nope, no, no, no. >> hey, this is interesting. you guys think you might have it bad? do you have it worse than 4,000 stranded on nightmare cruise? that is about us. >> that's us. yeah. >> that's enough. >> enough with the headlines. we want to designate a few more areas on the boat as toilets, okay? what do we got here? the superstar karaoke bar is now officially a toilet. okay? >> the blue iguana cantina is now a toilet. >> just in time. good. and the bonzi sushi restaurant, that's still a sushi restaurant so you want to get in there soon before it becomes a toilet. all those headlines and a school bus-sized meteor hit russia. good time to be out at sea. with the pope stepping down,

there's a question of how he will manage those assets. "snl" once again has our answer. >> you tried to make sound financial decisions. what will you do when you retire? what will you do after you're pope? your spiritual future might be secure, but what about your financial future? ♪ >> here at papal securities we give popes the financial advice they need to survive on a fixed income. because in today's shifting financial landscape no one is endowed. even popes. we'll help you protect and grow the assets you already have. so you can focus on what matters most. life. ♪ >> papal security.

helping pope's retire since the last time it happened in 1415. still ahead this morning on "way too early," why are you awake? your tweets, texts, e-mails, whatever you got is coming up next. "morning joe" just a few moments away. ♪ just one bite opens a world of delight... ♪ savor and explore, the great indoors ♪ ♪ friskies indoor delights. ♪ feed the senses.

can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. because every flake is double-toasted... splashed with sweet honey... and covered in rich double-roasted peanuts. mmm. [ hero ] yummy. [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut. it's super delicious!

[ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we created the luxury crossover and kept turning the page, writing the next chapter for the rx and lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. writing the next chapter for the rx and lexus. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally.